1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to protective clothing, especially antiballistic protective clothing for women, consisting of cover layers and/or one or more protective layers superimposed on and possibly joined to one another, said protective layers consisting of textile flat structures made from antiballistically acting fibers.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Protective clothing providing protection against the impact of projectiles and splinters, in particular vests providing such protection, have in the recent past become standard equipment in many countries for the military, police, and other security forces. Since women are increasingly being employed in these capacities, it is necessary for this protective clothing to fit the female body shape. The conventional protective clothing designed to be worn by men poses problems for women, and its use is possible only with considerable sacrifice in wearing comfort. Particularly in a duty situation involving high physical demands, this reduced wearing comfort of protective vests developed for men becomes an extreme hindrance.
Solutions to this problem in the prior art are in part very expensive and also often do not offer the required wearing comfort. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,097 and GB-A 2 231 481 describe special cutout techniques for antiballistic women's clothing. Aside from the increased cost of producing the protective clothing and an often reduced antiballistic action, these techniques have the disadvantage that the protective vests cited are not sufficiently fitted to the female body.
Another method known in the art is to cut the bust out of antiballistic layers and sew in an appropriately prefabricated bust. Aside from the extremely high cost, this method too does not provide a satisfactory solution, since the seams protrude to some extent and moreover the antiballistic action at the seams is impaired.
Furthermore, a special breast protector has been developed for wear under a vest and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,157. Although additional breast protection is provided, wearing comfort remains unsatisfactory, since this breast protector normally is worn under a conventional vest, i.e., one containing no antiballistic layers conforming to the female body.
Finally, protective clothing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,821 in which a special breast contour for women can be placed onto a carrier material. The carrier material can be a conventional vest, for example. This solution as well does not offer sufficient wearing comfort, because the protective clothing does not sufficiently conform overall to the female body shape.